West Virginia (ABC) The cocoa market is finally starting to settle after record cocoa shortages last year, but don’t expect much relief at the checkout line.
Experts say chocolate is likely to remain high this easter weekend
Significant weather, disease, and aging trees in West Africa, which produce a majority of the world’s cocoa, led to lower crop yields last year, driving price spikes on chocolate candies.
Now that cocoa bean production is beginning to stabilize, the costs for candy manufacturers will start to ease, but unfortunately, it may take a while for consumers to see the change.
David Branch at Wells Fargo’s Agri-Food Institute says that since companies buy cocoa inventory months in advance, many of the traditional chocolate easter bunnies were produced from cocoa that was still extremely expensive.
If you’re looking to save on your easter basket goodies, Branch recommends purchasing fewer bunny and egg-shaped chocolates and buying multi-packs over individual bars.
He says we may see the lower costs reach store shelves by Halloween.
